Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust most bought in August

The £6.4bn Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust was the most popular investment trust on the Interactive Investor platform in August.
The Scottish

The £6.4bn Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust was the most popular investment trust on the Interactive Investor platform in August.

The Scottish Mortgage Investment trust is a constituent of the FTSE 100. It is run by the veteran James Anderson and his sidekick Tom Slater.

The trust is the absolute top performer in the AIC Global sector over the last five years, returning 241 per cent in that time, compared with 106 per cent for the sector average in the same time period.

The trust has also had a strong 2017, returning 34 per cent in 2017 (6 September), which is more than twice the return of the sector average.

The trust has significant exposure to technology and companies in the field of medical innovation.

Mr Anderson’s view is that the vast majority of the companies on global developed market stock markets will be bankrupt by 2030 as technological disruption renders them obsolete.

The £12bn Fundsmith Equity fund topped the unit trust charts

Fundsmith Equity is run by city veteran Terry Smith.

It has assets of £12bn and is the best performing fund over three and five years in the IA Global sector.

The fund manager takes a very different approach to that adopted by Scottish Mortgage. The emphasis is on companies that derive revenue from “lots of small repeatable” transactions. This leads to an emphasis on consumer goods companies such as tobacco companies.

The largest holding is Bard, a US manufacturer of medical supplies.

Embattled fund manager Neil Woodford’s mandates were second most popular on both lists, with £10bn Woodford Equity Income and £900m Patient Capital Investment Trust.

Patrick Connolly, chartered financial planner at Chase De Vere, said Scottish Mortgage’s exceptional long-term track record means it is a fund he is happy to have on his recommended list to clients.